Students react to Facebook "confessions" pages rising in popularity

Facebook "confessions" pages seen to be popping up all over our area in recent days.

The idea of anonymously posting stories about life as a student can provide a good laugh or two, but there's also a point when some students and educators say it goes too far.

“They're kind of fun to read but it makes us nervous because you see all the bad things that can happen from them,” said students Kara Greenwood and Emily Noldin.”

But UW-La Crosse student Ryan Moncada just doesn't see the point of anonymously posting what can be more than just embarrassing stories.

“It's just not a good thing, and I don't know why people feel so comfortable putting that information out there in the Internet for everyone to see,” said Moncada.

Earlier this week a picture on a Facebook page titled "UWL Confessions" caused some controversy.

The picture was of a female student who appeared to be passed out on the floor.

Fellow UW-L student Neala Frye died just a week ago from intoxication and hypothermia.

“I just think it's disrespectful in light of the recent tragedy at our university,” said John Weirich, a UW-L sophomore.

Chancellor Joe Gow sent an email to students and staff expressing his disappointment in the page stating "I'm a staunch supporter of free speech, but even I'm amazed that somebody who administers a website could be so insensitive."

That page has since been taken down and replaced by a new one titled "LAX Confessions"

So far, it has more than 1,800 likes with dozens of comments about drug and alcohol use as well as posts about sexual activity.

“I think it's disrespectful, and we're really here to study and to do well in school and that's why we pay money to come here. (We’re) not pay(ing) money to get drunk and do stupid things,” said Weirich.

Similar pages are popping up at universities across the region, as well as area high schools like West Salem and Onalaska.

That's giving some college students a reason to worry.

“I don't want high-schoolers getting bad morals from what we're doing, and then it will just go lower and lower, and that's not something we need to do,” said Katelynn Kempf, UW-L first year student.

While Facebook representatives couldn't comment on specific cases, here's what they had to say:

"We remove things that violate Facebook Terms (ex: pornography, hate speech, threats, graphic violence, bullying and spam). If you come across something on Facebook that violates our terms, use the report link near the abuse to submit a report."

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